Monday, May 31, 2010

It's been pretty slow for vinyl purchases this month, but what May lacked in quantity has been made up for in terms of quality. This month marked the acquisition of two of our biggest Ye-Ye wants.

I was really glad to finally get a hit for Chantal Kelly's Notre Prof' d'Anglais 45 after having had a saved search for years. At last year's WFMU fair, we asked a Quebecois dealer if he ever ran across the Canadian pressing of this record and he scoffed at the mere suggestion—so, yeah, it was especially gratifying when my hit turned out to be for the Canadian two-song version. I'm still looking for the French 4-song EP pictured in the video linked below—any leads would be appreciated!

My #1 Ye-Ye want had long been Isabelle's Amstramgram single. I'd originally become obsessed with the track after hearing it on the Wizzz! (volume 2) comp a few years ago. Tony tried to find a copy for me for my birthday in February, but he had zero success—he'd even approached a noted French collector who told him that the record was impossible to find and to plan on it as a birthday gift five years from now! Fortunately, Tony recently got a lead through a friend and a cash offer ended the auction early (thanks, Damo!).

The Isabelle EP is pictured here with our recently acquired Robo Fan.

Make sure to turn down your speakers! It opens with quite the fuzz blast!

Monday, May 24, 2010

Our apologies, folks. Real world commitments—also known as going back to (grad) school and working against insane deadlines—have conspired to keep our blog productivity low. Fear not, gentle readers, as we've still found time for all manner of insane procurements—recent acquisitions that're guaranteed to leave you duly stewed.

So, without further ado, let's ease back into these updates with our avian friend, Tivvy. Based on a Fauni gonk from Finland, Tivvy was a 60s mascot that bumbled his way into books, a television show and at least one 45. He was also adopted as an unlikely model for promotional toy banks in the UK (USB) and the US—our two banks hail from the unexpected locales of Miami and Albuquerque. It should also be noted that the albino has a bow in its hair, so she's technically Mrs. Tivvy ...we think.How did a Finnish gonk get all the way over here? Anyone?

Here we find a caveman sporting two original badges promoting Tivvy's club and his television program, TV TIMES. He'd apparently swapped his moptop for an afro, by this point.

With so little info available, our Tivvy research remains woefully incomplete, and GG&S is in dire need of an original Fauni Tivvy (stuffed) troll. Any of our Finnish readers are encouraged to send us one, thereby ensuring their eternal place in our hearts. Chop chop!